Cargo trucks and recreational vehicles with high vertical loads are subject to colliding with overhead obstructions, such as low clearance bridges and overpasses, overhanging signs, public parking structures, and tree branches, despite state and federal street and highway standards and vehicle height restrictions. Various types of vehicle collision warning systems utilizing ultrasonic acoustic or Doppler-mounting based radar systems to prevent such collisions are known in the prior art. These systems, however, are inept at detecting the potential for a collision between the rooftop of the vehicle and overhead obstructions. The present vehicle overhead clearance detector addresses the foregoing problem by including at least one sensor and a laser finding device operative to detect the overhead obstruction, a digital camera, and a visual flashing alarm disposed on a waterproof housing body disposed on a rotatable mounting base and in communication with a central processor unit operable by a driver. A monitor with integral speakers displays images captured by the digital camera to permit the driver to see any detected overhead obstructions. The housing body is disposed atop a motorized telescopic pole between a cab of a semi-tractor and a semi-trailer is operable via the central processor unit. The housing body is mounted atop the telescopic pole for proper positioning.